Recently we started talking to restaurant owners about, well, owning restaurants. How they got started, what makes them tick, their secrets for success, and generally whatever is on their minds. We have had conversations with ten successful restaurant owners so far, and at least one clear trend has emerged. They genuinely care about their employees.

Most restaurants will tell you they care about their employees. And you can be certain the employees know if that’s true, or just lip service. The owners we have spoken to really mean it – you can tell when you speak to them. They tend to think like Richard Taubin, co-owner of Friends Coastal Restaurant in Madisonville, LA, who says “We are very family oriented. Our employees come first, even before our customers.” Or they think like Kiersten Traina of Liberty Market who thinks about and accounts for her employees’ personal schedules as much as her restaurant’s needs when creating the weekly staff schedule. Or they go out of their way to help their employees, like Chester Kroeger of Fudpucker’s: “We are a family. When times are tough for employees, we go out of our way to help them. Whether it’s with a loan for them to buy that car to get to work or whatever we need to do within reason.”

Richard, Kiersten, and Chester run highly successful restaurants. Our guess is if we spoke to a bunch of owners whose restaurants have not been successful, or have had to close down, not many would spend so much time talking about how much they care for their employees. Just a hunch.

The Schedulefly Guys